Pre Modifiers: Adjective Phrases

Question

The greatest player of all time, David Lyon wins yet another title.Scared and upset, I walked over to the back door, turning on the sensor light outside.The above sentences include pre-modifiers (adjective phrases), and you can tell they are used correctly by moving them infront of the noun phrases they modify and including who/which is/are before them: I, who was scared and upset, walked over...; David Lyon, who is the greatest...With this example below, the test doesn't work since it begins with a possessive pronoun:His bitter enemy now known as "Maximus the Merciful," Commodus becomes more frustrated at his inability to kill Maximus or stop his ascending popularity while Commodus' own popularity shrinks.So is this adjective phrase used correctly?Thanks

Mr Wordy · Accepted Answer

English 1b3The greatest player of all time, David Lyon wins yet another title.

I don't like this sentence. If there was a comma after "Lyon" it would be OK.

English 1b3Scared and upset, I walked over to the back door, turning on the sensor light outside.

This one seems OK.

English 1b3His bitter enemy now known as "Maximus the Merciful," Commodus becomes more frustrated at his inability to kill Maximus or stop his ascending popularity while Commodus' own popularity shrinks.

I find this grammatically feasible but stylistically awkward. The semantic relationship between the part before the comma and the part after the comma does not seem to suit this type of construction.

English 1b3 · Answer

Mr Wordy
English 1b3The greatest player of all time, David Lyon wins yet another title.
I don't like this sentence. If there was a comma after "Lyon" it would be OK.

That's interesting. What about this?

David lyon, the greatest player of all time, wins another title.

Mr WordyThe semantic relationship between the part before the comma and the part after the comma does not seem to suit this type of construction.[/quote]

I agree. But I would perhaps go one step further and say it is not gramatically feasible for the reason you mentioned. But I could of course be wrong. Any reason why you believe it is grammatical? Any way of knowing other than gut instinct/what sounds right?

Cheers

Mr Wordy · Answer

English 1b3That's interesting. What about this?
David lyon, the greatest player of all time, wins another title.

This seems fine to me (apart from the typo: "lyon" for "Lyon").

English 1b3I agree. But I would perhaps go one step further and say it is not gramatically feasible for the reason you mentioned. But I could of course be wrong. Any reason why you believe it is grammatical?

Other sentences with the same grammatical structure but with a proper semantic connection seem fine to me. For example:

“His eyes now wide and staring, Commodus becomes more and more incoherent."

English 1b3 · Answer

I now realise the phrase in the sentence in question is an absolute phrase and therefore doesn't modify the subject. Previously, I thought it was adjectival but couldn't see how it modified the subject.

Cheers.

Pre Modifiers: Adjective Phrases

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